Jonathan Powers (Earth-616)
| Identity = Public | Affiliation = formerly Partner of Screwball | Relatives = | Universe = Earth-616 | BaseOfOperations = New York City, New York | Gender = Male | Height = 6'2" | Weight = 190 lbs | Eyes = Blue | Hair = Brown | UnusualFeatures = | Citizenship = American | MaritalStatus = Single | Occupation = Professional criminal; former actor | Education = | Origin = Human | PlaceOfBirth = Hoboken, New Jersey | PlaceOfDeath = | Creators = Stan Lee; Gene Colan | First = Daredevil Vol 1 42 | HistoryText = Early Life Jonathan Powers was a struggling actor of huge ego who finally got his big break as the leading character in an off-Broadway revival of Cyrano de Bergerac. Panned by critics, jeered by the audience, and disdained by his fellow performers, Powers was fired after one performance. Obsessively, he continued to study the various arts and crafts that he thought would make him a versatile actor: fencing, gymnastics, body building --everything except acting lessons. Still, he was only able to find employment as a stooge on a children's television show taped in New York. Finally getting fed up with having pies thrown in his face, Powers decided that if the public wants laughter at other people's expense, he would give it to them. Contracting the criminal weapons-maker known as the Tinkerer to make him a number of gimmicks, Powers fashioned himself a gaudy harlequin-like disguise and called himself the Jester. Criminal Career Committing a wave of crimes based on his toys and gimmicks, and then secretly hired by corrupt politician Richard Raleigh to threaten D.A. candidate Franklin Nelson, the Jester was opposed by Daredevil, who eventually stopped his criminal activities and saw him put behind bars. The Jester escaped on numerous occasions to plague New York anew. In one of his biggest plots, he began distributing false newscasts claiming that John F. Kennedy was still alive, or that the Vietnam War had never happened to get the public to stop trusting the news media. He also created false commercials and newscasts for Foggy Nelson's reelection campaign as District Attorney which caused him to lose the election. He then went on to frame Daredevil as a murderer, before finally having a fake President Ford denounce the NYPD as criminals. When Daredevil was overcome by an angry mob, he staged a trial to sentence him to death. Daredevil then freed himself and defeated the Jester, restoring order to the city. Briefly, the Jester, impersonating a famous actor, performed Cyrano on television. This appeared to end his criminal career after fulfilling his dream. He left prison years later and became a stylised performer, process server, and showman. Superior Spider-Man Powers eventually backslid, becoming partners with Screwball for a web-show called Jested. After pranking Mayor J. Jonah Jameson and uploading it live on the Internet, both pranksters were targeted by Spider-Man (whose body was being controlled by Doctor Octopus at the time). When Spider-Man came into conflict with Screwball and the Jester, their tactics of bullying and pranks caused him to snap and brutally beat them up within an inch of their lives. Death & Resurrection After serving his time in prison for any and all offences, Powers once again abandoned his life of crime. He still ended up in prison once again when an undercover federal agent and a paid informant got him to confess his desire to return to his bad habits. She-Hulk represented Powers in court, but her argument that Powers shouldn't be arrested for thinking about committing a crime rather than actually committing a crime wasn't enough to convince the jury. He was killed by a prison guard during a scuffle started by other two inmates. Through unrevealed means, the Jester was revived and returned to a life of crime, only to be defeated by Jessica Jones and Spider-Woman. | Powers = | Abilities = The Jester is an above-average athlete with special skills in gymnastics, swordsmanship, and unarmed combat. | Strength = The Jester possesses the normal human strength of a man of his age, height, and build who engages in intensive regular exercise. | Weaknesses = | Equipment = | Transportation = | Weapons = The Jester employs a variety of harmless-looking toys and gimmicks modified into deadly weapons or special tools. He has a yo-yo whose weighted knob can be used for striking and whose thin steel cable can be used for strangling. He has a bag of polished ball bearing marbles which he throws onto the ground to make an opponent lose his footing. He has a box of popcorn-like objects which explode on impact and emit a noxious tear-gas. He has a number of 8-inch diameter plastic flying discs rigged to squirt an anaesthetic drug. He has various sized rubber balls containing plastic explosives in their centers. He has an extendable artificial hand on a scissors rigged with a high voltage electrical charge, as well as an artificial hand that can be fired from a small air-cannon. Besides these weapons, which he carries on his person or in a pouch, he occasionally employs larger and more complicated weapons, such as miniature (2 feet tall) robots outfitted with laser weaponry, diamond drill bits, etc., that can be remotely controlled by a radio-linked micro-processor that responds to spoken commands. The Jester is constantly expanding and refining his arsenal of deadly toys. | Notes = | Trivia = | Marvel = | Wikipedia = | Links = * Marvel Directory }} Category:Gymnasts Category:Fencing Category:Acrobats Category:Killed Off-Panel Category:Formerly Deceased